don't stop learning...

Take the attitude of a student, never be too big to ask questions, never know too much to learn something new. - Og Mandino 

We spend a good portion of our early years learning. We reach a certain age and our parents send us off to school for what seems like the next 50 years.. Most people usually go to college and more and more people are attending graduate school for to obtain even more degrees… more learning. 

There are some people who think they have learned everything before they have. It’s not always a conscious decision, but sometimes we finish school and think we’re done. Or we learn a new job and think we’ve made it. Or you raise one kid and think you’ve mastered it. 

Usually there’s a moment when you come back to reality. Hopefully it’s not so miserable, but sometimes it takes getting laid off or suffering through a broken relationship before we wake up. I love routine, but sometimes we fall into routine so easily, that we get comfortable and forget to stretch ourselves. There is always something to learn. I can always learn to be better at what I love, and I can learn to love something new. Imagine how much you would have missed out on had you stopped learning at 18 or even 25. 

Sometimes we become too hardheaded to open our minds to something different. We grow up learning something one way and can’t grasp a different way. I’m not making an argument for Common Core and their crazy math, but I think it is okay to change our minds. I suppose the extreme of this would be to give up everything we know to be true in search of the latest and greatest fad. I don’t want to appear lukewarm or uncommitted, but I do want to keep an open mind. I want to always seek truth. There are people who were adamant that the earth was flat or that people of a different race were not equal. They really believed it, but that doesn’t mean they were any less wrong.  

A former student e-mailed me recently to update me on her job search. She has a job, but she's looking for something in a different career field. She’s been finding positions she likes and taking notes about the skills she’s lacking. We’ve been talking about how to get the experience and/or learn the skills she needs. It sounds simple, but how often do we just limit our searches to our skills and experience rather than choosing to learn something new so we can expand our search? 

On Sunday, I saw an older couple baptized. Forget about the denominational debate about baptism for a minute and check out their story. Their son has cancer, but as the couple watched their son and his wife deal with the cancer and draw their strength from God, the couple was strengthened and wanted that same thing. I can’t imagine watching your son struggle with cancer, but it was so moving for me to see a couple who decided they weren’t too old to change their minds about their faith. I have no idea how old they are, but despite being “over the hill,” they are still learning. 

So sign up for that class. Apply for the job that seems out of reach. Try something new. Ask the question. Read the book. Watch the documentary. Keep learning.